


Plants on my Windowsill

by brunchclubnerd



Series: Salem Society School of Witchcraft and Wizardry [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Continuation, F/F, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Magic, Other, Toxic Relationship, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:54:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27877166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brunchclubnerd/pseuds/brunchclubnerd
Summary: Life is difficult.Difficult at home, difficult anywhere else. It doesn't matter where you go, it chases you, chases me, chases everyone.But the plants on my windowsill listen. They don't judge me. They listen and grow as I grow alongside them.I don't belong here, but I don't think anyone does.
Relationships: Esther Alexandria & Andreas Riddle, Riley & Vera Duboís, Wesley & Heather Fraiser, Yvette & Oliver(deceased) Alexandria
Series: Salem Society School of Witchcraft and Wizardry [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2041082





	1. A life lost, a life started

**Author's Note:**

> Autor's note: This story is written with my very limited knowledge of the Harry Potter book series and my knowledge of European commons being a Dutch person. Yes, this is very much a parody/addition that I wanted to see after watching the movies for the first time.  
> This will be book 1 out of ???

The deafening laughter of a sick mind trails down the hallway. At the end of the hallway, behind the open door sits a woman with a little girl cradled in her arms. She rocks back and forth as her tears slowly dampen the little girl's clothes. She whispers sweet nothings to the girl, hoping the girl won't be stuck with this trauma like she will be stuck with it.   
Her eyes are glued to the wall as she can not bear to look down any further, though she does find her eyes disobeying her every once and again. And every time they do, another shot of pain goes through her body and her crying gets heavier. She tries to push it away, for the little girl's sake, but seeing her husband lifeless on the floor is not a sight that she can take. Not even for the girl's sake.  
After, what could've been days or, hours she gets up with the little girl in her arms and walks downstairs. She feels in a trance as she puts the girl down on the couch, grabs a quill, and writes down the events of the day to send to her friends by owl.

_Dear Riley, Vera, Wesley, and Heather,_

_I regret to inform you that my dear husband, Oliver Alexandria, passed away. The wicked woman who promised to kill him found us despite our best efforts to hide.  
Though any other might ask for support at this time, I simply ask you to let me and my daughter slip for your mind as I will take her to the muggle world and will shelter her from magic for as long as I can.   
When it is time for her to learn, you will see her. I do not doubt that you will be able to recognize her right away as looks like her father._

_Please know that I still love you all, this is simply what I decide to do for the safety of my daughter._

_Kind regards,_

_Yvette Alexandria_

She's a peculiar one that girl. At 21 years of age, Esther mostly helps her mother around the house. She used to have a job downtown, but people never seemed to like her. Esther knew what that was all about. It was either one of two things, according to her.  
1\. It was because her mother is the crazy lady in town and no one likes to talk to a crazy lady, no less her daughter. It was what caused Esther to have to endure a lot of bullying throughout her school years.  
2\. It was because she broke a girl's nose on the last day of high school because she was fed up with the bullying.  
Either way, people thought she was crazy and aggressive. Esther will tell you that that is nowhere near the truth. Crazy? Maybe. Aggressive? Only when it's rightful to be.

Standing 1 meter and 58 centimeters tall, Esther has a figure like an hourglass with a little more sand. Her blond hair curls slightly, beautifully framing her round face and just passes her shoulders in length. She has fair skin that tans easily but is slightly tarnished with scars from the garden work she does and the clumsy encounters she has with furniture. Her eyes are greyish blue and sparkle when she smiles, even though they almost seem to close because of her slightly chubby cheeks. Her smile is wide, slightly crooked, and enchanting with a dimple on just one cheek. On the other cheek sits a mole a little under her eye.  
Her mother, Yvette, on the other hand, is quite tall. Well, that's what Esther thinks as her mother is no giant, standing at 1,64m. She has a slim face and a slim frame. Esther sometimes wonders how her mother can do all the heavy work she does with arms that slim. Yvette's hair is dark brown and falls straight down, nearly reaching her lower back and she has this comforting smile. A comforting face actually. She looks like someone that you could confess all your sins to and she still wouldn't treat you any different. And that's that kind of person she is.  
The two of them get along famously and Esther adores her mother. She kept reminding her that there is love in the world, even though she had been bullied all the way through her school carrier.  
And with that confidence boost from her mother, she chatted up the guy from across the street. His name is Andreas Riddle, and the two of them have been together for about a year. She asked him out the day she broke a girl's nose, while she was still high on the adrenaline from finally standing up for herself.  
If you ask Esther, Andreas is a man that is built for cuddles. He stands tall at about 2,10m and is build as strong as an office building with a little more to love. He is no bodybuilder nor a gym rat. Just had luck with genetics. And his build is not where his luck stops according to Esther. Andreas has stunning raven waves on his head and piercing emerald eyes with brown specs in them that convey a kind of mystery. His straight nose and strong cheekbones define his face, complemented by a jawline that could cut through paper. Esther sometimes compares him to a Greek God and Andreas blushes when she does, not quite agreeing with the comprising.

That summer, Yvette was confronted with something she hoped wouldn't happen. Esther started mumbling spells in her sleep. Harmless ones, but spells nonetheless. Up until that point, Yvette thought her daughter might be the odd one out. A muggle daughter to wizard parents, but she was proven wrong.  
For a while, she tried to control it, hexing her daughter's room to contain the magic and undo the spells before Esther could wake up, but as the days went on Esther got stronger. It became impossible to protect Esther from herself as Yvette had not practiced magic in about 18 years. She felt forced to tell Esther, but it didn't turn out great.


	2. Confessions in the Garden

'And that's what the door in the living room is for,' Yvette finishes her rambling with a satisfied smile, seeming relieved to have told Esther everything, as Esther sits there, eyes wide open. Did she really just listen to her mother tell her that witches are real? No, that couldn't be. Right?  
'I'm sorry, what?'  
'The door in the living room leads to a different world full of magic and strange creatures and we are originally from that world,' Yvette summarizes, her smile slowly fading as she realizes what kind of a bombshell she just dropped on her daughter. Esther looks at her mother like she just tried to explain quantum physics to her.  
'No,' she mumbles, 'no, nope, no, no, not doing this right now, nope.' She gets up from her chair and gathers the stuff that has to be put inside.  
'What? What's wrong?' Yvette calls after her. Esther stops in the doorway and turns around.  
'We've been drinking,' Esther states.  
'And?'  
'I'm listening to the ramblings of a drunk woman who is trying to explain that the door in our living room that leads to a brick wall is a portal to another world,' Esther continues, 'and I am not going to sit here and let you tell me about something like that when you're drunk.'  
'I'm not drunk,' Yvette argues, standing up so rapidly that she pushes her chair over. She looks from her chair to Esther, knowing that the statement she just made holds no value after the chair hit the floor. Esther goes back to cleaning up and Yvette helps her quietly. Both of them go upstairs, get ready for bed, and say goodnight but Esther can't sleep. How could anyone sleep when your mother has just dropped something like that on you?  
She reaches for her phone and presses on her pinned contact in her messages. Andreas, her boyfriend.

_"Are you still up?"  
_

_"Barely. What's up?"_

_"I can't sleep. I need cuddles."_

_"I'll be right there."  
"You sure your mom won't mind me sneaking in again?"  
_

_"She has no say in the matter today."_

_"Ah, like that. I'll be there in a minute."  
"Don't fall asleep without me."  
_

_"I would never."_

A minute or so later, Esther hears a tap on her window. She looks over and sees Andreas climbing in with ease. Esther's window is always open, but Andreas refuses to let himself in without knocking. Esther holds it to his gentlemanly behavior. A true Englishman.  
He kicks his shoes off as Esther holds up the blanket for him to scoot under it. He throws his shirt to the side and lays down next to her, pulling her into his chest as close as he can get her. Arms around her whole body as she curls up against him. There is no better feeling than this if you ask Esther. She would easily trade the remainder of her life for one more hour of cuddling Andreas.  
Even more so after the crazy ramblings of her mother. No one needs to say anything. Esther just needs the comfort of Andreas' arms.

Rays of sunshine fall onto Esther's face as she starts to stretch and come back to life. The bed is empty, but Esther knew it would be. Andreas has a nine to five while Esther is free. She rolls out of bed and pulls on a 70s-Esque dress she found while thrifting. She loves it because of the flowy sleeves and skirt. Her mother once told her she looks like a forest nymph when she wears it.  
Esther hobbles down the stairs, becoming more and more aware of what her mother had told her yesterday and the noise coming from downstairs.   
'Are there guests?' Esther thinks, jumping the last stair to the bottom floor. She turns the corner into the living room and is met with four unfamiliar faces that feel strangely familiar. Two of them have hair as red as fire, light brown eyes, and freckles all over their face that make them look so kind and loving. The other two are quite different from each other. The man has near-white hair that cascades down his shoulders like water streams in a creek and beautiful blue eyes accompanied by tanned skin while the woman is dark-skinned, has an adorable button nose, and piercing green eyes that light up her beautiful face as dark curls frame it flawlessly. They all look very kind.  
'Who are you,' Esther asks, harsher than she wanted it to sound. Her face contorts for a fraction of a second as she realizes the rudeness behind her tone, but the adults don't seem surprised.  
'Got her father's temper, hasn't she,' the redhaired man jokes to Yvette, 'I am Riley Duboís and this is my wife, Vera O'Donoghue-Duboís.' He motions over to the other couple in the room. 'That's Wesley Anderson-Fraiser and his wife Heather Fraiser. We were in the same grade as your parents.'  
'Everyone except for Heather,' Wesley jokes to his wife. She nudges him with a disapproving look on her face. Wesley nods to her, understanding that she is telling him that this is no time for jokes and she's right.  
'Yvette asked us to come over to help explain our world to you,' Vera says, a comforting look on her face. Esther feels confused and driven into a corner. Her eyes shoot over to her mother, Yvette, who is standing next to the group with a cup of tea in her hands.  
'I don't understand,' Esther utters, 'all that is real?' Yvette nods, taking a small sip from her cup. Esther searches her mother's face in hopes of catching her faking all this.  
'Esther, maybe it'd be best if you'd sit down for this,' Heather suggests, taking a small step towards Esther to help her to a chair, but Esther steps back.  
'No,' Esther says, 'no, I don't think I will sit down. I think I'd rather go back upstairs until you all leave.' The group looks at Esther in surprise. It's like she thinks she's having a lucid dream. She refuses to listen to any of them and when they try to usher her to sit down, she runs. She runs back up the stairs like the devil's on her tail and locks the door to her room to keep them out.  
Yvette falls back on the couch and sighs.  
'I'm sorry, I should've known this would happen,' she apologizes to the others, 'she thought I was drunk when I told her yesterday. I shouldn't have expected her to believe me right away.' The group doesn't seem to mind though.  
'At least we get to see you again,' Riley speaks, 'it means a lot that you invited us over.'

Esther finds herself frustrated, stressed, confused, pacing around her room in a kind of rage that she has never felt before. Nothing in her life would ever suggest that this was going to come. Sure, the town thinks her mother is weird, but that doesn't mean she's a fucking witch.  
She paces and paces until she's almost run a track on her floor. It's enough. She looks over at the window she's seen Andreas sneak in and out of so many times and she's certain she can do that as well. And so she begins her very first climb through the window in a full-length dress. Surprisingly, she's successful. But that could also have to do with how small the house is. She can just jump down from above the front door and without breaking her ankles.  
Now that she's outside, she takes a look around. What next? It takes her a second to decide which way to go, but her mind soon trails to Andreas. If she walks to his place of work now she can catch up with him for lunch and walk back when she's calmed down.

'How have you been, Yvette,' Vera asks, looking a bit concerned for her friend. Who wouldn't be after not seeing their friend for years?  
'I've settled in alright,' she says, lying through her teeth, 'muggles think we're strange, but they don't bother us too much. Well, I say that but Esther did have a hard time in school because of me.'  
'What does Esther do now? I'm guessing she's been home for a while now,' Riley comments, to which his wive swats his arm. 'What, I'm just asking.'  
'Esther is figuring herself out, but she's having a hard time,' Yvette explains, 'thus why I thought it was about time to introduce her to our world. I'm hoping to enroll her in Salem if she wants.'  
'Oh, our children are all at Salem too,' Heather comments excitedly, 'should we introduce them to each other?'  
'That might be helpful, yes,' Yvette replies with a small smile.  
'I have a feeling you're not telling us everything,' Wesley mumbles.  
'I wish I was,' Yvette sighs, 'truth is that Esther has been mumbling spells in her sleep and I have no idea where she learned them. I wondered if it could be her boyfriend, but then she wouldn't have responded the way she did when I told her.'  
'Who's her boyfriend? Is he a wizard?' Yvette braces for impact.  
'It's Andreas Riddle.'

'Andreas,' Esther shouts excitedly, catching Andreas off guard as he steps outside for his lunch break. He smiles and holds his arms open to catch her in a hug.  
'Hey bumblebee,' he teases, 'whatcha doing here then?' He lets her go and takes her hand, already anticipating to take her to lunch with him.   
'I had to get out of the house,' she tells him, launching into a monologue, 'my mother had guests over and they were all saying how I look like my father, but I don't even know my father. Well, I know that he died, but nothing other than that. And yesterday my mother tried to explain to me that there's this whole magic world parallel to this one and I thought she was kidding because we had a few drinks, but these people were saying that they were here to explain everything to me and I'm just perplexed and frustrated. Because somewhere I hope that that's true because that means I belong somewhere else and it explains why I don't fit in here but on the other hand... How could he have kept that from me for so long?' Andreas nods along until she seems to be done. By the time she is, they are already seated in a small restaurant that serves Italian food and Andreas has already ordered drinks for them.  
'I'm sorry,' Esther sulks, knowing she spoke for too long.  
'No, it's fine,' Andreas assures her, 'I love listening to you. You have a very nice voice to listen to. And I understand your concerns, but I think I can clear some things up for you.' He lays a piece of beautifully carved wood on the table.  
'What's that?'  
'That's my wand.'

'ANDREAS RIDDLE,' Vera screams out in both anger and confusion, 'that boy is the son of a criminal! He's a ticking timebomb.' Riley puts his hand on his wife's arm to get her to calm down, but she pulls her arm away, offended at his gesture.  
'Aren't the Riddles divorced,' Heather asks. Yvette nods and points at her as if it proves a point.  
'Yes, indeed,' she confirms, 'the boy doesn't live with his father anymore. He lives with his mother, who is a wonderful person. And he's the only person who is genuinely nice to Esther.'  
'That's not enough,' Vera argues, 'all Riddles are Slytherin's. They're cunning and deceptive. Who knows if he isn't just using her for some bigger scheme?' Yvette sighs, looking hesitant to explain any further but she knows she has to, to gain the trust of her friends.  
'Because I asked him to take veratiserum when they became serious,' she admits, 'and the boy took it without needing any convincing. He understood why and he told me everything. From how much he loved her to how far they'd gone with the relationship.' Vera closes her mouth and looks at the ground in shame. She can hear in Yvette's voice that this is not something she wanted to admit. No one likes to admit they distrust someone so much that they ask them to take veratiserum.  
'Point is, he's a good lad. He's always there for Esther. They look really happy together, and I wouldn't be surprised if they stay together for a long time,' Yvette continues, tears pushing their way into her eyes, 'he reminds me so much of Oliver.' The others understand right away. Oliver was perceived the same as Andreas. Bad family, evil people, but he was the exception. Oliver was a man so sweet he'd give you cavities from looking at him. And Yvette fell for him. She fell hard and deep.  
'Oliver was a good lad,' Wesley says, 'people like him never really leave us, do they?' The group agrees.  
'He would've bumped heads with Esther so much, that much I can see,' Heather jokes, a small tear rolling onto her cheek that she wipes away quickly.  
'Oh for sure,' Riley adds, 'she's so much like him, he'd go crazy.'  
'Esther was bullied, just like him,' Yvette tells them, 'but the last day of high school, she was so done with it that she broke some girl's nose. He would've loved to hear that story.' Vera snickers.  
'He did the same thing in his second year at Hogwarts,' Vera says, 'broke poor Malfoy's nose for bullying Longbottom.'  
'Such a tortured soul that guy. I hate to say it, but I kind of hope I never see him again,' Wesley admits.  
'From what I've heard, he's walked to the other side,' Riley says, 'he isn't with the death eaters anymore.'  
'Good for him, the poor lad was always walked over anyway,' Vera nods.  
'My, remember when I had a fling with Longbottom,' Yvette laughs.  
'Gosh, but that only lasted a week or so,' Heather comments, 'something about not being able to keep up with his dancing?'  
'He was too great of a dancer. I couldn't keep up with him and I kept stepping on his toes. He deserved someone better,' Yvette explains laughing.  
'Poor man,' Vera shakes her head, 'little bit of a nerd, but such a big heart.'  
'Hogwarts was great, but Salem was even better,' Heather states, wrapping her arms around her husband's torso.  
'For sure,' Wesley agrees with his wife, putting his arm around her. The two got involved at Salem. Yvette remembers them pining over each other all the damn time and wishing she didn't know them because they used her as a damn owl to get their messages across.  
'Oh! Remember the bonfire at the edge of the forbidden forest,' Riley asks the group.  
'Yeah, I wonder if they still do that.'

After Esther and Andreas said their goodbye's, Esther went straight home with a bit of a skip in her step. Not a happy skip, an "I'm not fast enough if I walk and I need to yell at someone" kind of skip. When she reaches her house, she slams the door open so violently she almost flinches at her own action. She slams it closed and rushes to find the group of adults. It doesn't take her long as she sees their confused faces peek through the window next to the back door.  
'Andreas showed me,' she says with anger seething through her teeth, 'why would you keep something like that from me?' Yvette looks shocked, as do the other adults.  
'Because of your father,' Yvette states, 'and I wanted to tell you, but I didn't have the guts to do it.' Esther looks around the group of people.  
'I'm not listening to any of them until you've told me the whole story.'


End file.
